Missions

Galileo

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Introduction

Galileo orbited Jupiter for almost eight years, and made close passes by all its major moons. Its camera and nine other instruments sent back reports that allowed scientists to determine, among other things, that Jupiter’s icy moon Europa probably has a subsurface ocean with more water than the total amount found on Earth. They discovered that the volcanoes of the moon Io repeatedly and rapidly resurface the little world. They found that the giant moon Ganymede possesses its own magnetic field. Galileo even carried a small probe that it deployed and sent deep into the atmosphere of Jupiter, taking readings for almost an hour before the probe was crushed by overwhelming pressure.

10 Key Science Discoveries

10 Key Science Discoveries

1

A global ocean of liquid water exists under the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa.

2

Galileo magnetic data provide evidence that the moons Ganymede and Callisto also likely have a liquid saltwater layer.

3

Galileo discovered the first moon around an asteroid—tiny Dactyl orbits the asteroid Ida.

Ida and Dactyl in Enhanced Color

4

Ganymede is the first moon known to possess a magnetic field.

5

Galileo’s atmospheric probe discovered that Jupiter has thunderstorms many times larger than Earth's.

6

The probe measured atmospheric elements, and found that their relative abundances were somewhat different than on the Sun, indicating Jupiter's evolution since the planet formed.

7

Io's extensive volcanic activity may be 100 times greater than that found on Earth. The heat and frequency of eruption are reminiscent of early Earth.

8

Io's complex plasma interactions in Io's atmosphere include support for currents and coupling to Jupiter's atmosphere.

9

Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto all provide evidence of a thin atmospheric layer known as a 'surface-bound exosphere.’

10

Jupiter's ring system is formed by dust kicked up as interplanetary meteoroids smash into the planet's four small inner moons. The outermost ring is actually two rings, one embedded within the other.

Io Erupts

Firsts

Firsts

Galileo was the first spacecraft to orbit an outer planet.

It was the first spacecraft to deploy an entry probe into an outer planet's atmosphere.

It completed the first flyby and imaging of an asteroid (Gaspra, and later, Ida).

It made the first, and so far only, direct observation of a comet colliding with a planet’s atmosphere (Shoemaker-Levy 9).

It was the first spacecraft to operate in a giant planet magnetosphere long enough to identify its global structure and to investigate its dynamics.

What's Next

What’s Next

The Galileo mission ended on Sept. 21, 2003, when the spacecraft was intentionally commanded to plunge into Jupiter’s atmosphere, where it was destroyed. However, to this day scientists continue to study the data it collected.

The Juno mission is currently orbiting Jupiter, following up on many of Galileo’s observations and studying the planet’s internal structure.